So after installing it I found the audio quality to be pretty poor. When I turn the unit up to near the highest its not even very loud and its very distorted. Any ideas why this may be the case for those who have installed them before? I think everything is wired up ok, could it be a sign of a bad amp for the stock?

 

I also purchased the Metra dash kit and all the wiring necessary to install my new double din jvc head unit. I relocated the compass but there is a cross bar below the compass that will not allow the head unit to slide into place. Anyone else have this issue? Identical setup to OP but my ls430 is a 2001. Is it possible this cross bar was removed for later years?

 

Compass? I've never seen/heard of that before. I didn't have any crossbar on mine. I'm assuming its non-nav?

 

Yes the compass control module clips into the bottom of the ac ducts and hangs down in the way on my '01 non nav. It is a white box about the size of a pack of playing cards. Crutchfield research notes referenced it and stated that it had to be relocated before installation of new head unit. It unclips easily but not much room in there to relocate and wires are super short connected to it. I tucked it out of the way to temporarily fit new head unit but the damn cross bar was in the way. I gave up and put the factory radio back in. It will be difficult to relocate compass unit and keep it correctly oriented for accurate reading direction. And I don't like the idea of cutting the welded cross bar out to make this new head unit fit. I should have snapped a picture while I was in there.

 

This seems to be a pretty comprehensive thread and it was helpful during my install. I thought that instead of creating a new thread, I would just add to this one for anyone looking to upgrade their stereo. I started on a non-nav, non ML car (stock Pioneer system). I wanted an OEM fit and finish, so I went with the Beat Sonic SLA-24A kit. You can order this from CarID, SonicElectronix, Amazon, or Beat Sonic directly. CarID wasted two weeks of my time before refunding my money, so I ended up ordering it directly from Beat Sonic, which was a few dollars more, but they had it to me with free shipping and I received it in 2 days.

For the stereo, I went with a Pioneer MVH-2300NEX. This unit does not play CDs or DVDs, which was fine with me. I can't imagine ever watching a DVD or video of any kind in my car and I haven't bought a CD in years. Between Bluetooth streaming my music from Amazon and my USB with thousands of songs, I'll manage. I also added a Pioneer BC-8 camera. The image quality is not that great, but it has a small footprint and only needed on small hole for the wire, so it'll have to work.

For the install, I removed every panel from the trunk. A few of the clips were a real pain in the butt. I didn't really keep track of what came out from where, but it all went back together ok. This just made it easier for running the wires, which were the antenna wire, the camera wire from the camera itself, the camera signal wire, the camera power and ground wire, and the reverse signal wire for the head unit. For the camera, I mounted it in the center where I believe the factory camera would be. I used a small drill bit to make a pilot hole, then a larger drill bit to punch through the trunk. It is challenging due to the angle and I still need to go back with some silicone and touch up the hole.


For the camera, I pulled the power from the junction block on the driver's side of the trunk. Wire #13 on the top plug, I believe is was blue and orange. You could get it from the reverse light itself, but that would involve running more wires down from the trunk lid, wire #13 is the feed for the reverse lights anyways. For the ground, I used a ground point on the rear seats. Run all these wires into the cabin. I saw many posts about what a bear this was. I was prepared to drill a hole behind the seats and feed the wires through, but this was not necessary. There was a black sticker on the back side of the seats... peeled it off and there was a hole... perfect! As you can see, I pulled the lower seat and pulled the upper seat out of the way. The hole in question is visible.

Pop the two sill panels and the B-panel just needs to come forward a bit and you can run all the wires easily, though getting them to the headunit is a challenge. I removed the glove box which gave me plenty of room. To remove the glovebox and the attached airbag module (lower), you need to pull the vent and trim piece. Be SUPER careful, this was really hard. Too much pressure and the dash will deform. Something on my vent broke while doing this, but I'm not sure what... heard plastic hit the ground and then disappear. Once it's off, you'll see three screws that need to come out along with one or two at the bottom. There is a black felt piece in the glove box that you need to pry up to reveal the final bolts. I wasn't sure how to unhook the airbag, so I just laid the whole thing on the floorboard and it was fine. Oh, if you haven't done so already, unhook the ground from your battery.

Plenty of room now. I got all the wires in place. There is a support bar that several people have talked about that must be removed. *$#@ this bar. It is screwed into the center console and the screws are impossible to access. The bar itself is fibersomthingorother and can splinter and be very sharp. I used a small hacksaw to get started, then some pliers to smash and remove it. I had to use tin snips on the parts the had the screws. For the compass module, I was able to tuck it up out of the way behind the vents. Still seems accurate. I wanted to put the USB socket in the ashtray. This was hard because of the tabs. I could have made it look better, but once a thumbdrive is in place, no one will ever see it and I don't smoke. I bought this one off of Amazon hoping to have a seamless install... honestly I could have used the one that came with the headunit.


I verified operations of everything before putting it all back together. I worked slowly and got it all assembled with no left over screws or bolts. I'm honestly glad that I did this myself instead of having someone else do it. There are a lot of things that could go wrong or shortcuts that they could possibly try and take... rather do it myself and know it was done right. Like anything, if I had to do it again, I could now do it in half the time.


I'm still waiting for a new OEM phone cable so I can try Android Auto. I also need to do a Firmware update for the unit. I will probably upgrade the speakers soon. The unit really makes the stock ones come alive but there is only so much that stock speakers can do. I see Crutchfield has a few options in the correct ohm range that we need for using the stock Pioneer amp. Oh, if you use the Beat Sonic SLA-24A, it comes with the antenna cable. The white plug goes into the unit on the floorboard in the trunk on the passenger side, you unplug a connector and plug this one in, then run the cable to the headunit. There is another cable attached to the bundle and the instructions say it's for a diversity antenna. I called Beat Sonic to ask what that was... it's if you have a power antenna or an antenna embedded in the glass, none of which apply to us. I just tucked it out of the way.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future!

Edit, I still have to run the wire for the microphone. I tried to tuck it up under the headliner by the windshield but there didn't seem to be enough room. Will mess with it later.

 

wish we had a picture full front of the install?

 

 

Is this the LS430 ? Mine has two rows of buttons on either side of the display that control the display. Where did those go?

 

Mine was on a non-nav system, non ML so it never had the factory display.

 

OK, I am interested in replacing the Nav system because there are no new maps after 2016.

 

Not sure it can be done. Too much tied to the factory nav. I've seen where people just add a single din pop up screen nav capable head unit in the slot where the cd player is, and just abandon the factory screen where it sits. You might have to try that, Jim.

 

You can see the kit you need in this thread. Not sure what year you have, but if it's 2004-2006, you would need http://www.beatsonicusa.com/stereo/s...c-mva-24l.html then you would need a headunit of your choice. I would recommend one with Car Play or Android Auto so you can use the maps off of your phone and they would be displayed on the stereo screen. This way you would always have the most up to date maps.

If you have a 2001-2003, you need this one http://www.beatsonicusa.com/stereo/s...stomer-reviews

 

Nice work on the install Romanova! Definately is not easy, I may tackle replacing my stock ML amp next since I want to upgrade the speakers. Do you have a pic of the backup camera? I felt I could have done mine a little better, you see part of the wire from the outside on mine.

 

I looked at a different camera that had better image quality and better reviews, but the hole would have had to have been bigger. In order to set the camera back as far as possible, it was challenging to drill the hole but in the end, I think it turned out pretty good. I don't depend solely upon the backup camera, instead I use it in conjunction with the parking sensors.

 

Beautiful. Nice job on the install, looks great. Thank you for the pictures of the process and the installation tips. One question, does your back-up camera project a rectangular outline?